Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

(The War Inevitable)
Patrick Henry

j

I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlement assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging.
j
Reflection:

He uses a metaphor for the troops the British had been bringing over and their purpose that they are there to “bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging,” implying that the British wish to force them into submission and have been planning a way to tie them down so that they no longer have any possible means to revolt. That they will just continue to exploit the American people, never allowing them to make their own decisions or choose their own leaders, or even be considered in the decisions being made about them and their country. If ever they are to obtain true freedom, the freedom that they came here seeking than they must revolt against the British monarchy, fight for their liberty, and earn their independence. Henry employs logos, ethos and pathos to sway his audience to agree with him, appealing to all of the different aspects of their mind. He uses logos by appealing to their logical side, citing instances in which they have been wronged by the British and making inferences that only make sense once thought about. He uses Ethos to establish himself as a credible person to be pushing this issue, pointing out to his audience that he has been present at some of these instances, he has been there so who better knows the true situation? He also uses pathos to appeal to the people's emotional side by himself getting emotional and showing the people how much he cares about this issue, moving them to his cause.

k

Journal Entry:

If ever we are to be free from the oppressive tyranny of England than it will be by our own hands and our own convictions. We must fight for our freedom, for our home, for the land that gave so many of us hope. We cannot let that hope die, we must make this land that which we dreamed it to be, a land of opportunity, a land of promise, a free land. So let us fight, people of America, fight for the land you have worked so hard for, it is now or never. A decision must be made, do we fight for our home, for our freedom, or do we submit to England, the country that for so long has ignored and exploited us?